AKRON, Ohio (APBnews.com) -- For seven years, she's maintained her innocence, insisting that she did not brutally sodomize her 7-year-old son, injuring him so badly that doctors considered removing part of his bowel.
It was the family dog, Bugsy the pit bull, that raped the boy, she said. Now, the woman, who is serving a life sentence in an Ohio prison for felonious penetration, may get a shot at freedom, after her son, who has remained silent for seven years, testified in court Tuesday that the woman's story is true.
'My mother is innocent,' Michael Sims told a judge in Summit County, according to court officials.
PUSH FOR NEW TRIAL
The boy's shocking testimony came as the woman's lawyer, University of Akron law professor Dean Carro, launched a campaign to win a new trial for the woman.
The boy's testimony, say those familiar with the case, may be the kind of new evidence that the defense needs to reopen the case. Under Ohio law, a case like this can only be reopened if new evidence surfaces that was not available in the past.
But it's also forcing prosecutors, police, Carro and the boy himself -- who was traumatized by the incident -- to revisit the lurid details of a case that shocked this Ohio community when it was first reported in 1993.
DOCTORS SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE
The case began on a night in November of that year when the mother, then 40, brought her son to the emergency room at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. The boy was covered in feces, and his rectum was badly torn. Doctors immediately suspected child abuse.
The woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of her son, told authorities at the time that she had been soaking in a tub when she heard her son whimpering outside the bathroom door, say sources familiar with the case.
The injured boy told her that he had been desperately trying to make it to the bathroom before he had an accident, that he had pulled down his pants, and that Bugsy, a 70-pound pit bull had attacked him, penetrating him, officials say.
Prosecutors and police didn't buy the tale. They charged the woman with felonious sexual penetration and endangering a child.
Even after the dog's semen was found in the boy's rectum, they maintained that the woman had sexually assaulted the boy, sodomizing him with a hard object like a pool cue or a broomstick as punishment for soiling his pants.
BOY TOO YOUNG TO TESTIFY
But authorities never located an object that could have been used in the attack. They speculated in court during the woman's trial that she had collected the dog's semen and inserted it, possibly using a turkey baster or a semen-filled bag and a straw, to cover her crime. No physical evidence was ever found to support that theory, sources familiar with the case say.
But in court, there was no one to support the woman's story. The boy, who at 7 was considered incompetent to testify, didn't speak on his mother's behalf. Ohio law sets the age of competence at 10. Instead, prosecutors called a social worker, who testified that the boy had told her his mother hurt him. The defense now says the boy said what he thought the adults wanted to hear.
That was enough for the jury to convict the woman. She was sentenced to life in prison.
IS TESTIMONY NEW EVIDENCE?
Recently, however, the boy, who now lives in suburban Cleveland with his father, began to revisit the incident. He came forward and agreed to testify on his mother's behalf. It's now up to the judge to decide whether the boy's testimony is enough to warrant a new trial, authorities said.
The question the judge has to decide is not whether the boy's statement is true, but whether it meets the legal criteria as new evidence.
Indeed, your clarification is useful. The image of dead babies being unloaded with a pitchfork must have clouded my judgement; you see, I was chuckling quite furiously as I typed the joke.
I agree that the open source marketplace is a great place to work and network. At my last open source job (I was laid off, go figure) I heard this uplifting anecdote:
Q: How do you make a dead baby float?
A: Some root beer and two scoops of dead baby.
This little piece of advice has kept my spirits high during these slow economic times.
Half the entertaining value of a Magic "gathering" is seeing the people who show up...some are quite interesting based on my memories from high school a few years ago.
Online version just won't have that for a draw.
Yes, while I will agree that you have made an interesting and humourous comment, I think that you'll get a good chuckle out of my joke as well:
Q: What's the difference between a truckload of bowling balls and a truckload of dead babies?
A: You can't unload dead babies with a pitchfork!
As you see, both of our comments incorporated real-life elements to weave a real knee-slapper.
Slashdot Mirror
AKRON, Ohio (APBnews.com) -- For seven years, she's maintained her innocence, insisting that she did not brutally sodomize her 7-year-old son, injuring him so badly that doctors considered removing part of his bowel.
It was the family dog, Bugsy the pit bull, that raped the boy, she said. Now, the woman, who is serving a life sentence in an Ohio prison for felonious penetration, may get a shot at freedom, after her son, who has remained silent for seven years, testified in court Tuesday that the woman's story is true.
'My mother is innocent,' Michael Sims told a judge in Summit County, according to court officials.
PUSH FOR NEW TRIAL
The boy's shocking testimony came as the woman's lawyer, University of Akron law professor Dean Carro, launched a campaign to win a new trial for the woman.
The boy's testimony, say those familiar with the case, may be the kind of new evidence that the defense needs to reopen the case. Under Ohio law, a case like this can only be reopened if new evidence surfaces that was not available in the past.
But it's also forcing prosecutors, police, Carro and the boy himself -- who was traumatized by the incident -- to revisit the lurid details of a case that shocked this Ohio community when it was first reported in 1993.
DOCTORS SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE
The case began on a night in November of that year when the mother, then 40, brought her son to the emergency room at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. The boy was covered in feces, and his rectum was badly torn. Doctors immediately suspected child abuse.
The woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of her son, told authorities at the time that she had been soaking in a tub when she heard her son whimpering outside the bathroom door, say sources familiar with the case.
The injured boy told her that he had been desperately trying to make it to the bathroom before he had an accident, that he had pulled down his pants, and that Bugsy, a 70-pound pit bull had attacked him, penetrating him, officials say.
Prosecutors and police didn't buy the tale. They charged the woman with felonious sexual penetration and endangering a child.
Even after the dog's semen was found in the boy's rectum, they maintained that the woman had sexually assaulted the boy, sodomizing him with a hard object like a pool cue or a broomstick as punishment for soiling his pants.
BOY TOO YOUNG TO TESTIFY
But authorities never located an object that could have been used in the attack. They speculated in court during the woman's trial that she had collected the dog's semen and inserted it, possibly using a turkey baster or a semen-filled bag and a straw, to cover her crime. No physical evidence was ever found to support that theory, sources familiar with the case say.
But in court, there was no one to support the woman's story. The boy, who at 7 was considered incompetent to testify, didn't speak on his mother's behalf. Ohio law sets the age of competence at 10. Instead, prosecutors called a social worker, who testified that the boy had told her his mother hurt him. The defense now says the boy said what he thought the adults wanted to hear.
That was enough for the jury to convict the woman. She was sentenced to life in prison.
IS TESTIMONY NEW EVIDENCE?
Recently, however, the boy, who now lives in suburban Cleveland with his father, began to revisit the incident. He came forward and agreed to testify on his mother's behalf. It's now up to the judge to decide whether the boy's testimony is enough to warrant a new trial, authorities said.
The question the judge has to decide is not whether the boy's statement is true, but whether it meets the legal criteria as new evidence.
You are correct, thank you for your time.
young robert, drowned in the lake
now we call him 'bob'
This poem really reminds me of your situation.
and the undead shall reign.
The baby undead.
Q: How do you make a dead baby float?
A: Some root beer and two scoops of dead baby.
This little piece of advice has kept my spirits high during these slow economic times.
Online version just won't have that for a draw.
Yes, while I will agree that you have made an interesting and humourous comment, I think that you'll get a good chuckle out of my joke as well:
Q: What's the difference between a truckload of bowling balls and a truckload of dead babies?
A: You can't unload dead babies with a pitchfork!
As you see, both of our comments incorporated real-life elements to weave a real knee-slapper.